SI

Did Zion Williamson Get Paid To Attend Duke?

Zion was served a request for admissions by his former marketing company

Sports Illustrated

Madelyn Burke: Zion Williamson has been served a request to admit that he received illegal benefits to attend Duke. Gina Ford, the former marketing agent of the Pelicans star, filed in court documents that Williamson received impermissible benefits from several sources, including Nike and Adidas. So joining me now is SI legal analyst Michael McCann. Michael, Zion's broken relationship with Prime Sports Marketing and Gina Ford has been well documented. But can you break down exactly what is going on here? 

Michael McCann: So what Ford is arguing is that Williamson was already a pro by the time he signed a contract with Prime Sports. And that's key, because if Williamson was already a pro, then the fact that there wasn't a warning to him in the contract that he would forfeit his NCAA eligibility that would no longer be meaningful, that would make the contract more enforceable. It would strengthen her claim that he unlawfully breached it. So all of these questions that you referred to are about getting him to say you were already NCAA ineligible by the time you signed with her on April 20th, 2019.

Madelyn Burke: So what's next for Zion in this process? 

Michael McCann: In terms of what's next is more delays. This is a case that's in two courts in Florida state court, and in North Carolina federal court. It will likely play out for a period of months, possibly into 2021 unless there's a settlement. There'll be more delays. Nothing is going to be swift. It isn't as if a request for statements that he has to comply with it immediately. There will be some time and probably most likely this case will end in a settlement because it's unlikely Williamson's going to ever testify under oath as to anything that occurred while at Duke. More likely this will end in some type of settlement. 

For more background on Zion's legal battle, look here:

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